Aspirin, Not NSAIDs, Reduce Overall Cancer Incidence, Death

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 17 - Regular use of aspirin, but not non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), is associated with reduced cancer incidence and death, particularly among former and never smokers.

That's according to research reported Monday at the 100th annual gathering of the American Association for Cancer Research in Los Angeles by Dr. Aditya Bardia of Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.

Previous studies have looked at whether aspirin or NSAIDs prevent specific cancers, such as breast cancer, Dr. Bardia noted in comments to Reuters Health.

"Our study is different in the sense that it is a large cohort study that looked at association between aspirin and non-aspirin use and overall cancer incidence and mortality in a comprehensive fashion and also evaluated the results by smoking status," the lead researcher said.

Specifically, among 22,507 postmenopausal women followed for up to 12 years in the Iowa Women's Health Study, 3,487 developed cancer, and 1,193 died from the disease.

Regular aspirin use, compared with non-use, was inversely associated with total cancer incidence (RR, 0.84) and mortality (RR, 0.87) "and a weak inverse trend with increasing frequency was observed," the team explains in their meeting materials.

The inverse association was strongest among former and never smokers relative to current smokers, although this fell short of statistical significance (p = 0.28).

Aspirin use was also protective against coronary heart disease and total mortality.

NSAID use, on the other hand, was not associated with cancer incidence or death, heart disease death, or all-cause mortality.

This study provides "provocative evidence that regular aspirin use may play a role in preventing the most common chronic diseases in western countries, namely cancer and heart disease," Dr. Bardia said in a statement.

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FOR CONSUMER: "The take home message is that aspirin might have anti-cancer effects but can also have adverse effects such as gastric bleeding, and one should speak to his/her doctor about the risks and benefits of aspirin use," Dr. Bardia told Reuters Health.

Source: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/555342?src=mp